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The Kitchen Table

Food Processor

13 years ago

Any recommendations?

I have been cooking, almost daily, for over 40 years. Have done fine without one, but I realize many tasks would be much simpler and quicker if I had a food processor.

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Comments (11)

kayjones
13 years ago
I LOVE the two I have - a Kitchen Aide and a Hamilton Beach - both are old, but keep working fine. You do everything from grinding up meat to making pie crust - I think you will be amazed and pleased with what you can do with one!

Don't learn the hard lesson I learned:

the blades are RAZOR-sharp - not kidding in the least bit - DO NOT put the blades in the dish water - you WILL get a very nasty cut!!!! Hold on to the blade, swish it in the soapy water and rinse under running water. DO NOT dry the blades by hand - let them air dry - you WILL cut your hand!
alisande
13 years ago
I have a KitchenAid too. Love it! It's quite a few years old, and still going strong.
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Solid state Kitchenaid mixers were introduced in 1978 (the K45SS and the K5SS). In 1986 the line was sold to Whirlpool and all the Artisan, Classic etc. mixers sold today are basically the same models as made in 1986 (some improvements and efficiencies in the machining but anyone who has an old "original" K45SS or K5SS can repair it using today's parts). The Pro line was developed as something entirely new so it doesn't have the same history, but the company has worked very hard to upgrade and improve the model since its inception. There was a period of time when people were having a lot of trouble with their Kitchenaid mixers and the company had to work very hard to restore the reputation of the product. That's when they instituted the one-year no-questions-asked full replacement policy. It's still the best guarantee in the business (my opinion). I'm not convinced the old Hobart mixers are inherently superior to the Kitchenaids made today. I think there's a lot of mythology attached to the brand, but my take on it is people have trouble with the newer mixers because they ask them to do more than they were designed for, especially kneading bread. 50 or 60 years ago women (and it was women in the home kitchen) fortunate enough to have mixers used them for cakes, cookies, meringues, whipped cream, etc. They didn't use them for bread dough, which was generally kneaded by hand. My MIL baked 4 loaves every other day and her old Dormeyer never saw the dough. There's a lot of discussion on The Fresh Loaf about people who burn out their mixers with stiff doughs mixed at speeds higher than the recommended "2" setting. Bread is not the KitchenAid's strong point, though you can mix a perfectly fine one or two-loaf batch or autolyse a portion of a bigger recipe and finish by hand. For bread the Bosch (stiff doughs) or the Ankarsrum/Electrolux Assistant/Magic Mill, etc. (wet doughs) are more suitable. Getting back to the original discussion, the two attachments I use most often on the KA are the grinder and the colander/sieve. The colander/sieve is wonderful, but you have to purchase a vintage one and the K5 is the biggest mixer one will fit. Why the company doesn't offer a new colander/sieve for the 6 quart I do not know. The Viking/Cuisinart/De Longhi (all the same machine) did have a colander/sieve attachment available. I use the shredder attachment less frequently, but I do use it, and even though I have a 14-cup Cuisinart, I prefer the shredder attachment because I find since the mixer is already on the counter, it's less fuss for me to use. Just one of those individual quirks we all have. Carol
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Once upon a time, a son of France rose, drank his bowl of cafe au lait, smoked a morning Gauloise, and made machines until lunchtime. Fortified by the lunch packed by his young bride, a carafe of vin ordinaire, and more Gauloises, in the afternoon he made more machines. The next day, and the next week, he did it all over again. Those machines traveled all over the world of the swingin' seventies, to kitchens from Helsinki to Hackensack, and set to work. Chopping and dicing, whirring and kneading, they worked in kitchens grand and small, just as their big commercial Robot Coupe brothers were working in the world's restaurants. Like the solid French ouvriers who made them, the machines worked and worked. The years passed, decades went by, generations came and went. The sturdy young Gaul who screwed together this food processor and riveted the engraved label to its underside grew old, stooped, and was buried in the old cemetery by the wood, next to his beloved wife. The machines he made outlive him, and may outlive their children, and their children. In 1970s France, they hadn't learned to shave thicknesses and cheapen materials so that their products would fail just after the warranties expired. Your Robot Coupe in Kitchen Aid livery was made to keep working indefinitely. It was meant to be the last food processor its owner would ever have to buy. We live in the twilight of quality consumer goods. Everything is made in China of thin plastic and pot metal, cost-engineered to fall apart after an average of X years, with a standard deviation of Y that the company's accountants compute into the warranty reserves and balance against the manufacturing cost, to achieve maximum profit for the corporate parent. There is no red wine, or indeed time for lunch, in the factories. Yes, there are sturdy machines in the factories, some even made in France. They are used to make the cheap new machines that we consumers buy. Or, that we don't buy. You can get a used bowl, lid, blades, and stem for your KFP 700 for about $50 on eBay. See link for a typical auction. Or a new work bowl for about $60 from a few companies who stock parts for old machines. Try Gourmet Depot. Obvious, as a grouchy old sentimentalist, I would keep using the old French machine instead of junking the work of our Gauloise-puffing and vin rouge-imbibing hero. But I'm not a nutter about this stuff. Why, only today I dumped a box of old stuff - 56K modems, parallel printer cables, floppy disks, Celeron processors - at the freegeek computer recycle place. But I kept the old acoustic coupler and 1200 baud modem that I used to go online with, from pay phones on dusty roads all over France. Maybe, even the side road where the factory once stood. Maybe, even the phone where our hero would call his young wife, to take her out for dinner with the francs earned from his long day of making machines. Maybe, even the sturdy machine on your kitchen counter. Here is a link that might be useful: Example
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I have the Cuisinart Elemental 13 cup food processor with the dicing kit and I cannot determine if any of the blades julienne or make matchstick shapes. I've talked to 2 different people at Cuisinart and they do not know. Does anyone own this machine and have successfully turned your veggies or fruits into matchstick sizes? If so, what blade do you use for this? Thank you!
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Find the food processor's model number. Then search ebay for parts you need.
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User
13 years ago
We have 3 of them.. A small Proctor Silex for small jobs such as chopping nuts or onions... and two larger ones.. both Black & Decker... One with a shute, and one without.. I would be lost in the kitchen without them... plus I still chop a lot of stuff on my cutting boards as well..

Carolyn
Fun2BHere
13 years ago
I have a Magimix, but I seldom use it because I am too lazy to get it out unless I am preparing a large amount of food. For just the two of us, it's easier for me to use a knife.
ravencajun Zone 8b TX
13 years ago
I have a Black and Decker and a Cusineart, I love the black and decker use it all the time, never use the cusineart.

The black and decker is a work horse and was a great price, I got it at walmart.
Black & Decker
I just recently bought the Ninja Pulse for making smoothies and really like it also it has a 700watt motor the black and decker has a 450 watt.
Ninja Kitchen System Pulse Blender

I would definitely buy the black and decker again if I needed one, for the price it is just a great workhorse
carol_in_california
13 years ago
I have had my Cuisinart since 1983 and it gets a lot of use.
I have only had to replace one bowl and only because the Lexan looks scratched to me and a new blade.
I don't know if they make them as well now as they did back then but I certainly have gotten my money's worth over the years.
Marilyn Sue
13 years ago
I have an 11 cup Kitchen Aid one, and the little Black and Decker chopper for really small jobs, I don't use it very often.

Sue
sleeperblues
13 years ago
11 cup cuisinart and I love it. It's spendy, but well worth it and very quiet, too.
morz8 - Washington Coast
13 years ago
I've got the bigger Kitchen Aid, have had it a few years and I wasn't really using it. Nothing against the processor, except it is heavy, my kitchen was tiny, and I didn't have a good place to keep it where easily accessible, or the attachments either.

Larger kitchen now with lots of counter, outlets and work space, I leave it out, plugged in. The extra blades, discs directly below it in a drawer and I use it all the time. Just cooking for 2 + a lot of drop in guests....I'm finally really enjoying it :)
hounds_x_two
Original Author
13 years ago
Thank y'all for the helpful feedback.
Now I need to decide which brand/model to buy!
maxmom96
13 years ago
I also have a Cuisinart, and a small 1 or 2 cup one. Easy to get out the smaller one, but since I have a very small kitchen the only place I can keep the Cuisinart is in a lower cabinet. It's heavy and a pain to get out, but I do use it for often for baking, scones in particular.

From other forums I've read, the important thing is to make sure what you get has a large enough capacity for the tasks you'll be using it for, i.e. do you make bread or anything else where you would use multiple cups of dry ingredients? They can be a great time saver.

Oh yes, I can also attest to the sharpness of the blades!

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